Indian Hume Pipe Gains After Order Win

Shares of the pipe maker rose as much as 4.8 percent to Rs 391.70. The company bagged an order worth Rs. 135.78 Crore from Public Health & Municipal Engineering Department, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh - Tadipatri Municipality for Tadipatri Water Supply improvement scheme, according to its stock exchange notification.

The stock has declined 15.1 percent so far this year, compared to 0.7 percent decline in Sensex.

Lupin Swings After Winning Regulatory Approval

Shares of the drug maker swung between gains and losses and traded at Rs 827.95. The pharmaceutical company received a green signal form U.S. drug regulator for its Tamiflu, used to treat influenza, according to its stock exchange notification.

Power Lunch

Bhaskar Panda, Senior Regional Treasury Advisory Group At HDFC Bank

Increased imports, low exports one of the reasons for Rupee depreciation.

Fundamentals still remain strong for India.

Current Rupee fluctuation is correction.

Electrode Makers Slip Amid Concerns on China Steel Output

India graphite electrodes makers dropped amid concerns China will restart steel production it cut during the winter to curb pollution after lunar new year holidays, according to Anand Rathi Financial Services Ltd.

Graphite India fell as much as 5 percent

HEG Ltd. as much as 4.5 percent

Rain Industries fell 1 percent.

Source: Bloomberg

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Metal Stocks Slide Following Slump In Commodities

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Shares of the health services provider rose as much as 4.5 percent to Rs 101. South Africa's Life Healthcare Group, Max India's equal joint venture partner in the healthcare business, is exploring possibilities of acquiring shares in Max Healthcare Institute, according to the company's exchange notification.

Max India rose after falling for four consecutive sessions. Trading volume of the stock was 15.4 times the 20-day average.

Shares of the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical firm fell as much as 5.9 percent, the most in 9 months, to Rs 526.2, after the investors in the stock remain cautious ahead of the Halol plant inspection.

Trading volume of the stock was double the 30-day average of 1.8 million. Sun Pharma’s move compares with a 2.39 percent drop in the Nifty Pharma Index in today session. The stock is currently trading 6.3 percent below the Bloomberg consensus one-year target price.

Dilip Buildcon Gains After Order Win

Shares of the Bhopal-based infrastructure construction company snapped three-day decline and rose as much as 4.6 percent to Rs 958.

The company has been declared as the lowest bidder by National Highways Authority of India for a new engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) project worth Rs 380 crore in Karnataka, according to its stock exchange notification.

The project completion period is 30 months and the length of the road to be completed in the project is 52.3 kilometres. The stock declined 5.29 percent so far this year this year, compared to Sensex's negative returns of 0.96 percent.

Shares of the movie maker and distributor snapped three-day decline and rose as much as 10.7 percent, the most in seven weeks to Rs 219.

The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries plans to buy 5 percent stake in Eros' parent company or $48.75 million, according to a stock exchange notification. It also announced Joint Partnership with the company to set-up a Rs 1,000 crore corpus to co-produce and consolidate content.

Biocon Declines After Its Malaysian Plant Receives Form 483 With Six Observations

Shares of the drug maker extended decline for the third consecutive trading session and fell as much as 2.5 percent to Rs 558, the lowest in over a month.

The Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical company’s Malaysian plant received Form 483 with six observations from the U.S. drug regulator. (Click here to read more..)

Form 483 is used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to document and communicate concerns discovered during plant inspections.

Biocon trades at 72 its estimated earnings per share for the coming year. It returned 5.3 percent since January.

Opening Bell

Indian equities have opened in the green, as I.T. stocks and pharmaceutical stocks lead the rally. Coal India which now has to brace up for some competition is down more than a percent in early-morning trade.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index rose as much as 0.6 percent to 33,911, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index rose as much as 0.6 percent to 10,426.10.

Money Market Update

Bonds are likely to stay under pressure, with traders awaiting the RBI minutes due to being released after the end of trading hours. The minutes are expected to show a hawkish bias with one member voting for a rate hike and another member who is a well-known dove, dumping his call for a rate cut.

Traders will want to know the views of Governor Urjit Patel and Deputy Governor Viral Acharya who in the past has said the room for further cuts is somewhat limited. The yield on the 10-year bonds rose nine basis points to 7.67 percent on Tuesday with some of the states unable to sell their quota of debt at the auction.

Meanwhile, the rupee is likely to stay under pressure with stock markets in the red in the past week or so. The rupee closed at 64.79 on Tuesday, its lowest since Nov. 23 with forwards suggesting it will open at 64.85 against the dollar.

HR Khan, Former Deputy Governor At RBI Speaks To BloombergQuint

Key highlights from the conversation:

Divergence has been a major issue.

Perhaps RBI and auditors are not on the same page.

Perception that regulator has been changing norms has to be removed.

Never miss out on market moving news, top trends and compelling perspectives.

Should do operational risk check for banks like AQR was done for NPAs.

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.5 percent to 10,378.50 as of 7:40 a.m.

Asian stocks traded mixed following a decline in their American counterparts while shorter-dated U.S. Treasuries extended losses amid a massive debt issuance. Japanese and Australian shares recouped early losses to trade little changed, while futures signaled gains when Hong Kong trading begins.